New Car or Second hand

[kerry19834]

My car has just had its service and MOT it is a Ford Focus 12 plate, alled passed but highlighted an slight oil leak on the drive shaft and also brake fluid leaking into the master cylinder of the clutch. Cost to fix £2K plus,

I have been thinking about changing my car. Looking ar used car prices for low millage around 3 years for a car similar to a Focus, so Golf, Focus, Astra etc prices are so high, and new car prices are not that much more.

I would need to do a mix of PCP and cash otherwsie it would wipe out my savings or possibly consider leasing.

But I simply can't belive how expensive second hand cars are when compared to new ones, the depritiation does not seem to be there.

should add similar price when you factor in finance. e.g Golf life £27K new with finance deal two year old one £25K total with finance lisy price £19K

Goodness what kind of garage was it, I'd be looking for recommendations of good local garages and getting a second/third opinion.

It's not u heard of for garages to make stuff up.

I would never choose a PCP, always a loan

I'd suggest you shop around the main dealers and ask for any special offers.

We've just bought a brand new Citroen C3 that was £4k under list price, and brought it to the second hand price of similar make/model 2 years old that they were selling. It's coming to the end of it's production run, new model out in the Autumn, so Citroen were incentivising dealers to move the remaining stock of the old model! We didn't even think we wanted new - we were looking at used stock, but when we told the salesman what we wanted and how much money we were willing to pay, he suggested the new ones - he said they had about a dozen identical ones to shift so would give us one at £4k discount.

The previous brand new car we bought was exactly the same price as a six month old ex-demo with 6k miles on the clock. Same scenario, the production run was ending and the dealers were being given discounts to shift the stock. Exactly the same, in that we went there to view/test drive the specific demo, but the salesman volunteered the info that we could have brand new for the same price!

Well worth asking a few local dealers if they have anything like that available. Ideal if you're not too fussy about make/model of car you want.

@kerry19834

It's not always best option to buy new or trade in.
I was recently in this predicament and couldn't find a decent alternative / can't get a loan so the cost of repairing and keeping car was a much better option especially if you know the history of your own car (and it doesn't smell like some 2nd hand ones. Anyway price it all up. Good luck

Second-hand car prices are high. This is particularly the case if you're looking for a car that's around three years old as that was slap-bang in the middle of the manufacturing problems caused by covid so there's not that many around that age.

Could you face getting a car that's, say, five years old? A number of manufacturers have warranties that extend to seven years or more (Kia, Hyundai, Suzuki etc). So you'll get a car that's still got a couple of years of warranty but that won't be quite as extortionate as a car made in 2021 would be.

I don't understand this post. Are you saying a 2 year old one is £19k but total is £25k for some reason?

Used car prices have fallen significantly from the Covid high but are still expensive. You should be able to find some good deals. Way more than a 2k saving. I'd advise looking away from main dealers and something more "local" but not too "local". You're paying extra for little reason.

I'd pay for the repairs. Ford focus lasts practically forever if you look after them.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/consumer/how-covid-cars-are-affecting-used-car-market#:~:text=Covid%20may%20have%20struck%20four,often%20undetected%20and%20incorrectly%20priced - this is something to look out for if going for second hand.